


Shadows Never Forget a Agreement

by TheBlackSalmon



Category: Rise of the Guardians (2012)
Genre: Alternate Universe, BlackIce, Captivity, Forced Marriage, I will put more tags later, Love, M/M, Pitch is a troll, Romance, Stockholm Syndrome
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2014-07-01
Updated: 2014-07-01
Packaged: 2018-02-06 22:59:58
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,367
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1875696
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TheBlackSalmon/pseuds/TheBlackSalmon
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Jack is heir to the kingdom where he was born and lived all his life. But what to some would be lucky to Jack is not. He is overprotected and required to have in the future a job himself defines as the most annoying and boring occupation which anyone can have. He just wants to see the world and have fun. And if that was not bad enough he's sure there's something happening that older spirits want to hide from him!<br/>But he never expected that this would involve the return of a monarch of the darkness that is not seen for centuries and who came to charge a debt to this land. As does he charges that debt? Well, he wants a bride.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Shadows Never Forget a Agreement

It was with the grace and ease of a cat that Jack entered in castle's library by the roof without being seen. As the self-titled best prankster of castle, be able to sneak unseen by any room or place was just one of his many skills. Their poor victims never saw him coming until too late, to his great fun and anger and shame of victims. But this time he was not here to "business". His goal was much more innocent: he just wanted a book.

Most people would think now: why he'd do it all instead of just enter the library through the normal way and pick up the book as anyone else would? Well, Jack had a personal list of good reasons not to do it the conventional way. First, if he did this, he would have to meet the librarian, then he’d have to ask her help, then he would be forced look on her face as she said "no" at him shamelessly. And besides, why make things of boring, normal way when you can make of the fun way?

Anyone could use a front door, but how many people could sneak up by roofs, enter through skylight and hide behind the shelves to reach the location of the library that everyone, especially the cleaning team, seemed to have forgotten that was there?

If something Jack had learned in his life was that when someone wanted to hide something from the world, it ended here generally. The books were all old and the covers were being damaged by dust and old age, but most were still readable. Through the huge windows he could see the sun beginning to set and the light, which was already low because of the shadows cast by racks, decreased even more. Jack was forced to use his ice powers to create a little blue light that can light up the books and their titles. One book in particular caught his attention. He was old, but the magic used on him was strong enough to keep him considerably conserved throughout the last decades. Apparently a record of the kingdoms (before unification) and information pertaining to their respective governments, geography and other things.

"Now, this may be promising." Jack said to himself as he picked up the book and began to browse by the pages.

If you are thinking that Jack wasn't the "books fanatic" type, you're right. The only books he read were of adventure or very funny one. Otherwise, he often read until page 2 or 5 to then think "Hey! Why am I reading this boring thing and not enjoying myself? "And drop the book to do anything else. Books were usually the last thing on his mind, but he had a special reason to be interested in one now, especially one that was in that session  of library. One simple reason and that he couldn't bear: the older spirits were trying to hide something from him!

He knew that he with just 70 years old he was really young compared to most of the spirits around him, who had at least two or more centuries of existence. But that didn't mean they should treat him this way!

What were they hiding from him exactly? Well .. It started days ago when Bunny visited the palace to see his parents. One hour they gathered in a room alone, for a private conversation. Probably they thought no one could hear them there, but Jack was passing by chance and can't help. Unfortunately they were too far away to he hear exactly what they said, but he got two words there.

Jack didn't know why exactly, but hearing those words was like if somebody lit and then turned off a switch in his brain. Those words ... this name ... it was as if evoking a forgotten memory by him, but at the same time he was unable to recall it. Almost the same thing to see an object as a wrapped bottle: you are able to recognize the shape and the object just by looking, but is not able to know if it is full or empty, what its content, the glass color. Was how Jack felt, was there in his mind, but at the same time could not be seen clearly. Was a shadow teasing him.

The words were ...

_Nightmare King._

Jack had this name in the head without knowing what to do. He thought to ask to his parents what or who was this Nightmare King, but he was sure that they would never tell him. And he did not think other people would be more receptive than they, after all if the rulers speak of something in particular is because few or anyone should know.

That's when he thought he would go crazy before finding the answer that one morning he woke up, as always not so well due to the absurd number of lights that were required to remain lit during the night, with a fresh idea in his head.

He usually didn't remember his dreams, something for which he blamed the interim between nights which he was forced to stay with the lights lit until dawn and nights he could turn out the light without anyone create problems with him. So he did not know if this idea has emerged as the remnant of a dream or as something he just thought at the time. But the idea was very clear and vivid and it sounded like words were blown in his mind: search in the library. He almost knocked himself for not having thought of it before.

Somehow he knew he shouldn't searching anywhere in the library, but this particular area. He ran his fingers through the yellowed pages of the book. There spoke of kingdoms and places he had only heard about in legends or tales of older spirits who traveled widely in their youth. Probably some do not exist anymore. But for sure the pictures were awesome and very well done. Maybe for one of those entities associated with arts and he both heard about, but when Jack was born they were already extinct centuries ago. Anyway it was a job well done and the color was used in a way that almost look as if the pics were to jump from the pages.

Each image had on the opposite page the name of the place or thing that represented and its main features. He was going through fields with multicolored trees, palaces made of magma in volcanoes ( _If I wasn't probably die just to get closer, I would love to go in there_ , he thought), floating buildings ... So get on one page in particular that caught his attention. It had a drawing of what looked like a large mass of dark matter. In several different points in her, strange creatures took shape. Shape of black horses with golden eyes glowing like fire. Jack looked at the next page to see exactly what those things were.

"Nightmare ..." He said in a voice barely audible, as she was being kneaded by surprise in his throat. So these things were such nightmares, a strange kind of horses. But by some reason Jack felt weird. Yes, he had discovered that nightmares didn't mean just bad dreams, but could also be used to refer to these things. And despite the animalistic was not at all impossible that these things even have a king. However Jack was hoping Nightmare King was an omniscient being, preferably humanoid appearance, and not a giant black horse. At least when judging the way they spoke, looked like a person and not an animal.

He was about to start reading about the nightmares when the silent alarm that he put on his clock started ringing. Jack had scheduled the timing of the clock and knew what that meant: it was an hour since his mother had last seen him, which meant she was totally desperate at some place looking for him.

Jack sighed closing the book and putting in the same place before, where he could pick it up again later. His research had to wait until he calm the nerves of his parents.

**Author's Note:**

> Hi, I'm new here so, please, be patient with me. This chapter is a bit short, but is just the prologue. The other chapters will be bigger. I hope you like and let me know if you do.


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